Measuring displacement fields by cross-correlation and a differential technique: experimental validation

A digital image correlation (DIC) algorithm for displacement measurements combining cross-correlation and a differential technique was validated through a set of experimental tests. These tests consisted of in-plane rigid-body translation and rotation tests, a tensile mechanical test, and a mode I fracture test. The fracture mechanical test, in particular, was intended to assess the accuracy of the method when dealing with discontinuous displacement fields, for which subset-based image correla- tion methods usually give unreliable results. The proposed algorithm was systematically compared with the Aramis® DIC-2D commercial code by processing the same set of images. When processing images from rigid-body and tensile tests (associated with continuous displacement fields), the two methods provided equivalent results. When processing images from the fracture mechanical test, however, the proposed method obtained a better qualitative description of the discontinuous displace- ments. Moreover, the proposed method gave a more reliable estimation of both crack length and crack opening displacement of the fractured spe- cimen.© © 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). (DOI: 10.1117/ 1.OE.51.4.043602)